Marina Super Cinema

In the Seacombe district of Wallasey, on the Wirral, the Marina Super Cinema opened on 15th July 1916 with “The Second Mrs Tanqueray”, starring Sir George Alexander and Hilda Moore. Music was provided by a “Symphony Orchestra” under the direction of Alfred Delmonte. Matinees were at 3pm daily, with continuous performances from 6.30pm t0 10.30pm. The Marina Super Cinema was owned by Bedford Cinemas Ltd, and the resident manager was Alfred E. Brewer.

The Marina Super Cinema had been built on the site of the Vienna Hall, a working men’s hall that had become a full-time cinema in 1907, operated by A. B. Kopetzky, advertising the Royal American Bioscope. In July 1914 it had been announced that the Vienna Hall would be closing for extensive alterations. This turned out to be demolition, to make way for the Marina Super Cinema to be built and operated by the Liverpool based Bedford Cinemas chain.

The auditorium at the new cinema did not have a very steep rake, so the screen was set fairly high up. There were 730-seats in the stalls and 220-seats in the circle.

In March 1928 the Marina Super Cinema became part of the General Theatre Corporation(GTC) chain and in May 1928 they were taken over by the Gaumont-British circuit. In 1930, a British Acoustic sound system was installed, the first ‘talkie’ being “The Sky Hawk”, starring John Garrick and Helen Chandler.

In June 1955 a wide screen was installed, and in March the following year the cinema was completely redecorated. However, closure came suddenly, on 22nd September 1956, with “Reach for the Sky”, starring Kenneth More.

The building lay derelict until the 1970’s, when it was demolished to make way for an extension to a nearby school on this major thoroughfare.

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